The Death of a Man Not Remembered
by unifiedFiction
Summary: Magnus had made a bold sacrifice in Wonderland. He'd given up a memory that even the Voidfish wasn't able to return. But since his memories were returned to him, Taako hadn't allowed himself to forget anything. So when he was confronted with the opportunity to fulfill a promise made to one of his best friends... Well, he hesitated. But he wouldn't let it go unfulfilled.


It had been a while since the boys had gone out on an adventure together. Hell, it had been a while since there'd been an adventure to be had after literally saving the world and bringing its inhabitants together. But, here they were — Taako, Magnus, and Merle, all looking out the window of a glass cannonball as they flew over Faerun.

"Man, this brings back memories, doesn't it guys?" Merle asked with a big grin.

Magnus snickered, looking over his shoulder to the cleric. "Memories? Your memory's shit. You probably don't even know what you had for breakfast this morning!"

"I do too!" Merle furrowed his brows into a glare. "It was… was…" He sat for a minute, thinking. "It was whatever Taako made!"

Taako groaned and rolled his eyes, hand pressed to his head as he laid out dramatically in his seat. "My magnificent talents, wasted on the likes of you!" He sighed deeply to punctuate his complaint, pouting. "You know, nobody else ever forgets what I cook. Hell, Lup remembered before she could even eat it!"

"Okay, so I'm a shitty friend! Is that what you wanna hear?!" Merle huffed, looking back out the window. "S'what I get for trying to reminisce with my buddies, I guess. Damn."

Magnus laughed and patted Merle roughly on the shoulder. "We're just goofing, right Taako?"

"Nope." Zero hesitation.

"He's just kidding. Ah, Taako, I missed your brand of humor!" Magnus didn't hesitate either, though he did give Taako a stern look when he caught his eye.

"Whatever, my dude," he said with a shrug. He looked back out the window, at how close they were to the ground, and grabbed the hand brake. "Let's see if this baby is as easy as I remember," he said to himself before giving it a firm pull.

And it was. The passing landscape slowed, and soon enough they were on the ground, climbing out of the ball to look around their surroundings.

"So who's the big-shot we have to talk to for mission details?" Magnus asked, looking to Merle curiously.

Merle shrugged. "Whoever's in charge, I guess? I think he's a governor. All I know is ol' Artie said he had a job that might be fun for Tres Horny Boys to take on."

"First of all, please stop calling us that," Magnus whined with a grimace. "Second… does Lord Sterling really let you call him that?"

The dwarf simply laughed. "It's our own goof!" He declared. "I say it, he gets mad, we laugh — well, I laugh, anyway. It's all in good fun!"

Magnus nodded slowly. "R-Right… I wonder if he sees it that way…" He shook his head and sighed. "Anyway, maybe we should get going?"

From several feet up the road, Taako called "Way ahead of you, my dude!" over his shoulder.

It was a largely uneventful trip to their destination, the city of Merriland. The city streets were sparsely populated, very few people walking along the sidewalks and even fewer wagons traversing the roads. For the most part, the city was pretty unremarkable. Buildings no more than two or three stories tall, the typical shops selling clothing, food, and other typical items…

There was one thing that was notable, though.

Everywhere they looked were signs and flyers.

Almost all of them had a person's face and/or a logo painted on them. "Sarah Flowers for Governor!" one read. "Elect Phillip Goodman, for the good of all men!" read another (and gods, all three of them rolled their eyes at the cheesiness of the line). A few times, the crew spotted a citizen stop by the door of an establishment, review the flyer of choice on the door, and then choose whether to enter or keep walking.

"Looks like we showed up in the middle of an election," Magnus said, looking around. "Man, all these flyers… kinda look tacky."

"I know," Taako said with disgust. "It's like nobody has any tact anymore." He sighed deeply. "God, I hope our job doesn't have anything to do with this mess…"

"Me too," Merle said with a frown. "I hate getting involved in politics. It's always a mess, and nobody can talk about it without fighting, and blah, blah, blah." He shook his head. "Nope. Not for me. I'd rather if we all just… got along."

"You can't just avoid politics," Magnus said with a frown. "It's part of life. And it's what shapes this new world! Don't you wanna be part of that?"

"I saved this damn world from destruction!" Merle groaned, "Let somebody else worry about 'shaping' it!"

"What good did saving it do if you aren't gonna make sure that the people in charge keep it in good standing?!"

"I dunno, what good is worrying about all that mess if I don't care?"

"Merle!"

"What?!"

By this point, Taako had stopped listening to the two of them, if one could even claim he'd been listening in the first place. He'd already stopped and asked someone for directions to the capitol building, or whatever it was called, and was making his way there. However, once he turned the corner to reach the city square, he froze in place. Every single flyer, sign, and banner here were all for the same candidate. Lavish, overly-extravagant, every sign read exactly the same. And the words immediately sparked memories that made the elf's blood run cold.

"Re-elect Governor Kalen."


End file.
